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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27607070">Scales of Ambition</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BvinYa_Raama/pseuds/BvinYa_Raama'>BvinYa_Raama</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Libra- The scales [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Politics, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Consequences, Corruption, Difficult Decisions, M/M, Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Open to Interpretation, Politician Harry Potter, Politician Tom Riddle, Scandal, Wizarding Politics (Harry Potter), Wizarding World (Harry Potter), same age au, tomarry - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:40:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>590</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27607070</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BvinYa_Raama/pseuds/BvinYa_Raama</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When is ambition worth more than love?<br/>When should love tip the scales from ambition?</p><p>Tom Riddle and Harry Potter in a highly political scenario.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Libra- The scales [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018423</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Scales of Ambition</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Traditionalist, influential Wizengamot Justice, Tom Riddle and the the champion of Modernists, the Head of the DMLE, Harry Potter are longterm political rivals, both aiming to become Minister of Magic- and by the end of incumbent minister Crouch's term, the odds are looking in favour of Potter, who is, surprisingly, the Traditionalist minister's appointed successor, but more well-liked and inclusive than his mentor.</p><p>When the election projections come out, it’s Potter who is likely to win by a wide margin- because he has been making arrangements for all creatures to be allowed to vote, as well as being vocally muggleborn-supportive. On the other hand, Riddle’s political weight rests solely on his wealth and his influence in Pureblood circles, despite being a half-blood himself.</p><p> </p><p>Riddle's followers try to tip the scales by maligning Potter with some irreversible scandal, and fortunately for them, the Aurors have just unearthed one of their (Voldemort’s) underground businesses.</p><p>Potter is suddenly neck-deep in Muggle and creature trafficking accusations, forced prostitution allegations, Gringotts embezzlement charges and various lawsuits on coercion, blackmail and murder. There are plenty of ‘witnesses’ and ‘evidence’.</p><p>The Aurors crack down on Potter's dealings- it's terrifyingly clean. No politician can have that kind of a record, so naturally, he must be guilty. It is impossible for someone to be as respectable and prominent as Potter without rolling in mud. Even the previous Wizengamot Chief Warlock had been hiding his early associations with the former Dark Lord Grindelwald.</p><p>On the other hand, from investigating the underground, all threads lead to Potter. They decide that's evidence enough.</p><p> </p><p>Potter and his followers protest the allegations, declare his innocence in the Ministry, and try to gather public support, to no avail.</p><p>No one knows the real Potter after all, knows nothing beyond the fact that he graduated Hogwarts with Outstandings in all his NEWTs electives, was made the youngest Head Auror and the youngest Head of the DMLE, a position he has held for twenty-five years. No one knows anything about his personal life. For all they knew, he could be Lord Voldemort, one of the biggest names in the Wizarding underworld.</p><p>Riddle's popularity rises. The next projections estimate Riddle's chance of winning. Potter is going on trial, which, if he loses, means a long time in Azkaban, and nobody will support him- Potter has always gone for the 'Human' approach as opposed to Riddle's 'untouchable' persona, and right now, the crowd needs an idol they can worship and feel secure about.</p><p>...</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>What Riddle and Potter haven't made public is that they're childhood sweethearts who have been married for decades.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>They keep work completely separate from home life, and Harry pretends nothing’s wrong, until one day, he gets arrested and Tom learns from a proud Rosier and Dolohov how it’s all their doing. All evidence is already perfectly fabricated- all they ever needed to do was change trails from Riddle to Potter, which had been unexpectedly easy for some reason.</p><p> </p><p>Harry’s reputation is in tatters, all the creatures and Muggleborns he had been supporting are maniacally angry at his ‘backstabbing’- enough for several assassination attempts, and he’s facing twenty five years minimum in Azkaban.</p><p>There’s no possibility of using scapegoats- because nothing fits the evidence, nothing leaves as few loopholes as nailing Harry to the case. The only way out is for Tom to come clean.</p><p> </p><p>Tom can feel the weight. He knows what the damage is.</p><p> </p><p>He just doesn’t know if Harry is worth the sacrifice of five decades of meticulous planning and careful ascension to power.</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
***</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A short drabble that struck me because of the recent political atmosphere in my place.</p><p>I may or may not write this as a short fic, depending on how free I am in the next couple of weeks. Feel free to draw from it or improve upon it, I'd definitely like to see it as a proper work.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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